It was a cold Tuesday morning for Bobcats and going indoors offered little reprieve. At 8:12 a.m. on Nov. 11, students received an email from Tim Pratt, director of facility services operations, informing them that heat and hot water in domestic buildings would be shut off.

The interruption was caused by a leak found in Bates’ steam vault, located along Central Avenue. In an email to The Student, Pratt noted that “A plume of steam was visible, which is abnormal.” Facility services proceeded to shut down the steam plant in order to investigate the situation. The team also called in a specialty contractor from CCB Construction Services of Westbrook to pump out the steam from the vault in order to address the leak. 

Campus buildings have a variety of heating and cooling systems, though the majority of heat and hot water is powered by a steam plant. Pratt reported that approximately 17 campus buildings were affected by the steam plant outage. As of 12:00 p.m. on Tuesday, however, heat and hot water were returned to the majority of campus buildings via backup heating systems. 

“This is a backup system that our Mechanical Services team has refined over the past few heating seasons so that we can  quickly and effectively implement this protocol within three hours,” Pratt said. 

Pratt reported that the steam system has experienced “various issues” over the years. He noted that these issues are typical given that the system is operated seasonally. 

“In between heating seasons, we invest in maintenance, both of the plant itself, the vaults, and all equipment  associated with the system,” he said. 

At 11:56 a.m. on Tuesday, right as snow started to fall, Pratt sent an update to students via email. “We continue to work to assess the situation and develop a repair plan and do not yet have an estimate for a full return to service,” he wrote. 

Though heat and hot water were returned to most campus buildings and facilities, including Tarbell Pool and Merrill Gym, a few buildings continue to be without service, including Hathorn Hall, Lane Hall, Pettigrew Hall and Schaeffer Theatre. 

Pratt also urged students to keep windows closed to conserve heat. 

At 4:30 p.m. students received the last update regarding heat, which informed them that the steam plant would remain out of service for the night. 

Pratt added that Gomes Chapel, Libbey Forum and Olin Arts Center in addition to the aforementioned buildings would continue to be without heat until the leak could be fixed.

Though the effects of the outage are not felt in most buildings, some students are dealing with the consequences. Simon Klompus ‘26, working in the VizLab in Coram library said that on Wednesday morning, he had to wear three jackets to keep warm. 

He acknowledged that the outage is “relatively routine” but that the discomfort was still bothersome. “It feels like I’ve accidentally studied abroad in Siberia,” he said. 

In Schaeffer Theatre on Tuesday evening, dancers and tech crew members prepared for the fall dance concert this weekend. Lucy Whitelam ‘26, one of the dance thesis students, said that though the theatre was cold, the dancing kept her warm. Though, she noted that those students on the tech crew were “all bundled up.”

As of 10:00 a.m. Wednesday, facility services still had still not resolved the outage.

At 4:15 p.m. on Nov. 13, students were notified that the steam plant was restored to full operation.

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated since it was first posted on Nov. 12 to reflect the changing status of the steam plant outage. On Nov. 13, students received an email notifying them of the repaired heat system.